Entertainment

What once was Pluggd is now Delve Networks. And what once was an audio and video search and ad system, is now a full-fledged “breakthrough Internet TV and online video publishing platform.” While the company is a touch superfluous in its explanation of what its primary purpose is (it speaks of hosting content as well as uploading and managing it, which, let’s be honest here, is really just three ways of looking at the same coin) we get the gist. It’s looking to be a comprehensive publishing agent to all types of content producers. Why, if only we had a dime for every time we’ve heard such ambition spoken ;)

Peering back into the last year of Pluggd and Delve’s history, it’s somewhat difficult to determine whether the company has meant for the successive changes to its business model its made over the last 12 or so months or if its trying out new ideas until it comes to something that give its financiers something to truly smile about. Whatever the case, the company now know as Delve Networks is pretty much all focused on Web video, intent on giving parties who put together content to manage it in streamlined fashion.

Visually, Delve looks like a solid build. It’s taken cues from current trends and built for its platform a control center replete with that always-recognizable dark grey theme and with basic options for adding, tagging, and analyzing videos. No surprises, really. Just the kind of stuff you’d expect from such a system. If we are to give it a quick one-two-three comparison with fellow industry players, perhaps Brightcove and Move Networks are yardsticks by which one can measure Delve’s new launch. How does it stack up? Well, it depends.

As for its front-end service, its video player, I’m of two minds. It doesn’t look terrible. I’ve seen worse. Each participant in the market really has its own pros and cons, so impressions are generally to be taken subjectively, mostly because menu options you get with one are typically found within the devices of competitors. Simply speaking, it’s an intuitive piece of code.

Like with previous entries, publishers using Delve can give viewers options to see information on subject matter being shown, buttons to share and embed clips in various places, and so on and so forth. Nothing special. Just the essentials. Which are fine. Viewers aren’t into complexity these days. They just want to watch stuff how, where, and when they want - preferably in as high a definition as possible.

In terms of Delve’s entire platform, I’d have to say it fails to really impress. Here’s what I mean by that. It has the right foundation laid. The vitals are there to make it work right for lots of people. But so go the developments of its more veteran challengers. Therefore Delve may well have to do some serious one-upsmanship, either by putting together an absolutely stellar marketing team or by building its services bigger and faster than the rest. Which is no guarantee. The company says that it is very effective in looking within video content to offer viewers an easier way to find content put forth by publishers in serious need of exposure, providing Delve an advantage over the standard class of services in the industry. But it’s going to have to convince publishers that that truly translates to many more dollars in the bank.

So far, Move Networks and Brightcove have secured rather substantial deals with producers, managing and distributing for big-name news organizations and entertainment broadcasters alike. Delve might instead have to focus more exclusively on smaller publishers. Exploit the long tail, as it were. Yet even in that space Delve comes across ample and formidable players.

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